Hey guys, im going to start on my 10/22 project, and i got the Hogue stock and the Butler Creek 20" fluted barrel (ported) will be here in a few days. I was doing some reading on RimFireCentral.com and a guy asked another member "did you bed the barrel or just drop it in?" I would have posted the question over there, but im not registered and im at work right now. What does he mean by bedding a barrel, and what is the diffrence? Thanks guys.

Jay

bu-bye

06-16-2005, 1:23 PM

Bedding is one way to gain accuracy. Free foating is another and IMO is much better. Bedding requires equal pressure the full length of the stock. Free floating requires no pressure on any part of the barrel. With a free float stock you don't have to worry about shooting from the sand bags or using a sling. Because the barrel floats at all times the harmonics of the barrel are always the same shot after shot and that is the key to tight groups. You want every shot to be just like the one before it and free floating a barrel takes a little of the human error out of it. I have glass bed a couple rifles before, a Marlin 22mag and a savage 223. I tried both bedding and free floating and both guns shot much better free floated. Now, there is also bedding the action which I can't recommend more. This process is much like bedding the barrel but with the action. You want the action to be solid on the stock. You want equal pressure on the action to prevent ANY movement when firing. I use Fiberglass to bed my actions and make my stocks.